Carson Wentz out 5-12 weeks, forcing Colts’ hand to find new QB option
Carson Wentz will have surgery on his injured foot, putting him out for 5-12 weeks and forcing the Indianapolis Colts’ hand to find another quarterback.
Anyone hoping for good news on the Carson Wentz injury front is in for a rude awakening. The new Indianapolis Colts quarterback, after injuring his foot in training camp practice on Thursday, was weighing his options for recovery. Namely, it was surgery versus rest and rehab. Now, he’s elected to go with the former option.
Head coach Frank Reich announced on Monday that Wentz will undergo surgery to repair a metatarsal injury in his foot and will be out 5-12 weeks. The more frustrating part about that recovery timetable, however, is that the franchise has no way of knowing at what point in that broad span Wentz will eventually fall for his return.
What does seem clear, however, is that Wentz is going to miss regular-season time. Second-year signal-caller Jacob Eason has taken over the first-team reps in practice with rookie Sam Ehlinger and Brett Hundley behind him. However, for a team that’s built to win and contend in 2021, all of the options on the roster are quite disconcerting.
In fact, it feels safe to say that the Wentz injury and recovery timetable should force the Colts to go out and add another quarterback to help keep them afloat early in the year.
Who can the Indianapolis Colts turn to at quarterback with Carson Wentz out?
If we’re accepting the premise that Eason, Ehlinger and Hundley are not viable options to fill in for Wentz (something that you probably should do), then you have to start to look elsewhere for who the Colts could be looking at to play quarterback early in the season.
In the initial wake of the injury, I floated three possible quarterbacks Indianapolis could trade for: Jimmy Garoppolo (49ers), Nick Foles (Bears) and Marcus Mariota (Raiders). All three are veteran options with plenty of experience that could come in and not only keep a team with a strong infrastructure otherwise afloat but serve as a high-end backup once Wentz returns.
One player who wasn’t mentioned there, however, might make the most sense if the organization could work out a trade: Jaguars signal-caller Gardner Minshew.
With Jacksonville selecting Trevor Lawrence No. 1 overall in this year’s draft, it’s but a foregone conclusion that the rookie will take over. That leaves Minshew in limbo on the Jags’ roster, which is a tough scene for a player who, although imperfect, has played well at every opportunity he’s been given to this point.
The big hindrance for the Colts landing Minshew would be a potential reluctance from Jacksonville to trade the quarterback within the division. For the right price to unload an asset they, frankly, don’t need, though, it might be possible for Indianapolis to get a deal done.
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What’s clear, though, is that the Colts are now in a position where they must exhaust resources to find a suitable replacement for Carson Wentz. There isn’t one on the roster right now and, as the preseason is just over a week away, that puts the onus on the front office to go out and make a move.